Quest for Revenge
by TimeGuardian
Summary: Peter Maximoff wants two things - power and revenge. His target? Dr. Quest. His leverage? Jonny Quest.
1. Chapter 1

_**Quest for Revenge  
**__byTimeGuardian_

_Stansky Maximum Security Correctional Center, Michigan-_

Peter Maximoff never considered himself defeated.

However, sitting in the middle of a maximum security cell clad in an orange prison-issue jumpsuit was providing certain challenges that he could not ignore any longer.

For four months now, Peter called the Stansky Maximum Security Correctional center home. He had awaited his trial date with indifference - after all, the idiot lawyers that were assigned to his case had provided delay after delay. The changes in venue, the specifications of the picked jury - these were easily and successfully challenged by the lawyers.

Today was different.

When guards had delivered his lunch through the slot on his door, he found a folded up piece of paper slipped into his ham sandwich. Keeping it low on his lap and away from the prying eyes of the door, Peter read the contents quickly.

Peter was smiling by the time he finished and he crumpled up the paper with enthusiasm. Plans were coming to a head. He didn't even have to lift a finger. If everything went well, he would be free in a week and have his revenge on Dr. Quest and his family.

He ate his lunch with a renewed sense of purpose, eagerly planning the rest of his week.

--

_Questor, Ten miles off of the coast of Maine-_

Race Bannon was finding it hard to wake up. Had he been taking a nap?

He opened his eyes and instantly regretted the move. "Oh Hell."

Bright light assaulted him from all sides, and he shut his eyes again. This was far from the first time that he had ever been on the losing side of a fight, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

_A fight - that's it, that's what happened._

Memories came flooding back to him, and Race didn't like what he was remembering. He had taken the _Questor_ out into the waters off the coast of Maine to help the kids with a school report about Marine biology. They had been only out for a day.

Race had been at the wheel of the _Questor _when the kids raised the alarm. Lights flashed, the klaxon sounded, and he knew there was major trouble onboard. When Race rushed out of the cabin to take a look, he saw that there were five of them, all divers by the look of it, professionally trained since he hadn't heard anything before they struck. All of them wore dark black wetsuits, their heads mostly covered. The only thing Race could see were their eyes as they advanced on the kids.

He moved in quickly, tackling one of them headlong and forcing him overboard, and that was when white plumes of gas quickly surrounded them.

One quick breath sent Race reeling, and he knew these guys weren't pulling any punches. From what he could see through the quickly thickening veil, Jonny, Jessie, and Hadji were having their own troubles escaping the rest of the men that surrounded them. Race moved in to help them, coming in low to try and knock a few of them off of their feet.

That was when Race's world had caved in. In one instant pain exploded near his right ear, and in the next he lost consciousness. _I was ambushed._

Race tried opening his eyes again, and this time he managed to keep them open despite the light's attempts to burn his eyes out. A quick check of his watch revealed only two hours had passed since the intruder alarm had first been raised.

Looking around, Race realized that he was lying outside on the deck of Questor. The sky above him was a pale shade of blue marred by only a few clouds, one of the few reasons why they had come out to do their research in the first place. However, it was the sight of Jessie and Hadji that nearly made his blood run cold.

They were laid out on the deck a few feet away, seemingly unmoving.

Race quickly scrambled over to where they laid and quickly checked both of them for a pulse. When he finally felt the steady rhythm of both of their pulses, he gratefully released the anxious breath he had been holding.

He turned to his daughter first, lightly touching her face and grabbing for her hand. "Jessie? Ponchita, please talk to me."

It took nearly a minute, but he got the results he was looking for. She moaned slightly, and opened her eyes. "Where-"

"Take it easy. We've been through a pretty nasty attack." Race checked his daughter out from head to toe. He was relieved to see that she seemed fine. "How do you feel?"

"Like I was switched off," she moaned in reply as she rubbed the back of her head. "One minute, I was helping Jonny and Hadji pull up the sensors we had in the water and the next - those goons stormed the Questor. We never had a chance."

That was putting it mildly. Race looked around and found that Jonny was nowhere in sight. An uneasy feeling began to clench at his gut. "Jessie, see if you can get Hadji to wake up. I'm going to see if I can find Jonny."

Race slowly got to his feet, and when he was sure he could stand without collapsing, he went into Questor's hold. For precious minutes, he quickly opened and closed doors, all the while calling out Jonny's name, but no response came. He was running out of places to check.

"Dad! Come here quick!"

--

_Hello again. :) This idea is one chapter old, but I thought I would start sharing. There was a plot point I had in __**Quest through Time**__ that I thought needed to be addressed and lo, this idea was born. Updates should be fairly steady as my life seems to finally be evening out, but regardless I promise that I will try and make it worth the wait._

_Till next time,_

_TimeGuardian_


	2. Chapter 2

Quest for Revenge  
Chapter 2  
_By TimeGuardian_

Race Bannon rushed back out onto the deck to find that Jessie had revived Hadji. Both of them were standing and staring at something that Jessie was holding.

When he came closer, Jessie handed him what looked like a folded sheet of paper that was sealed in a clear plastic bag. "Hadji found this in his pocket when I was helping him to his feet. Neither of us recognizes it."

Race took the bag reluctantly. It had been sealed on all sides by some sort of heat, but with effort he tore an opening in the plastic and carefully extracted the paper. The paper itself was unremarkable, seeming to be of the type one could buy in any copy shop. However, it was the words on them that set him on edge. "It's a ransom note."

"What does it say, dad?"

Race cleared his throat and read from the paper. "_This message is for Dr. Quest, but I thought this would be the best way to deliver it. The terms are simple - deliver your time travel technology to my designated contact in six hours time or you will never see Jonny Quest again. Contact will be made by the radio frequency listed at the bottom of this letter. Do not waste any time, the clock started ticking when my men stormed your boat._"

When he finished, Race quickly committed the radio frequency to memory, then checked the signature at the bottom of the letter.

In a bright crisp stroke of penmanship, the letter was signed Peter Maximoff.

The sight of the signature only served to make the growing unease in Race's gut gnaw at his throat. "Damn, there's no way this can be true. This scum is in federal prison. Phil even sent me a status report only a month ago. I would've heard-"

"And yet this letter is here, and Jonny is not," Hadji replied quietly.

The sound of an aircraft broke into Race's concentration and he looked towards the sky. Even without binoculars he recognized the familiar form of the seaplane that Dr. Quest had planned to use to meet up with them.

Race crumpled up the letter quickly and fought a wave of frustration. "C'mon Hadji. Get on the radio to greet Dr. Quest and get him up to speed - the quicker the better. Jessie, check the engines and sails - make sure those idiots didn't do anything to the boat."

While Hadji slowly headed into the cabin to communicate with the aircraft, Race noticed that Jessie simply stood there in front of him, her shoulders slumped and an utter look of defeat on her face.

Race sighed and laid his hands on her shoulders. "We'll get him back, Jess. We've fought this bastard before. Nothing's changed. I don't care if Maximoff knows every secret we have - we've beaten him before, and we are not going to let him keep Jonny or let him get anywhere near Dr. Quest or Project Rachel. Is that clear?"

Jessie let out the breath she had been holding and nodded slowly.

Race smiled. "Good girl, now go double check Questor."

He then turned to the seaplane that was maneuvering around in the water to dock with their boat. "Now I have to go break the news to Benton."

Truth be told, he'd rather face Dr. Zin and his entire robot army than give his friend the news, but there was no time for guilt or second thoughts. Race took a breath to brace himself, then headed toward the stern where the sea plane was heading.

--

Jonny Quest was dead - or at the very least he felt like he was dead. Groaning, he lifted a hand to his head and found that it was throbbing badly.

"Oww," he groaned.

The last thing he remembered was being on the family boat just off the coast with Hadji and Jessie in order to do some marine research for a biology report for science class. Dr. Quest had reluctantly relented for them to go on and head on out to the coast with Race, with plans to meet up with them that evening.

_What time is it anyway? _

To answer that question would mean risking opening his eyes, and Jonny did so slowly. No enlightenment came however - in fact, it was downright dark, wherever he was. He was laying flat on his back, he could feel that much at least.

Jonny tried sitting up, but found it to be detrimental to his throbbing head. He eased himself back down onto whatever type of ground he was on and took a deep cleansing breath. He thought back to earlier in the day - between the intruders and the gas, Jonny could barely see a hand in front of his face. He did his best to fight them off but between the gas and the muscle, Jonny had quickly blacked out.

His musings ended when he heard a loud metallic scrape coming from the far side of whereever he was. Seconds later, the metallic sounds grew louder as a large vertical line of light appeared. Jonny gingerly lifted his head and shaded his eyes with his arm as the line of light expanded until he could just make out a doorway. Before he could entertain any thoughts of using the opportunity to escape, Jonny saw a large man step through the opening, armed with what looked like a large rifle.

The man quickly made his presence known and pointed the rifle in his direction. "So you're awake now. The boss would be glad to hear that his bait is unharmed."

_Bait? Oh goody._ Jonny thought sourly before deciding to see what this goon knew. "Where am I?"

"Somewhere you will not escape from," his captor replied hotly. "Mr. Maximoff wanted to make sure you were out of action long enough to get your father to give him what he is looking for."

At the mention of Peter Maximoff's name, Jonny involuntarily shuddered. "Maximoff? Aw Hell."

The commentary was more befitting Race Bannon and would have earned him at least two days worth of extra chores from dad, but Jonny didn't care. Peter Maximoff was a man that had been willing to destroy his family just to cover up efforts of treason before, so the possibilities of what he could be planning left a bad taste in Jonny's mouth. What Peter Maximoff could want from his dad was endless, and Jonny knew full well that his usefulness would quickly come to an end no matter what happened.

However, he was more worried about what could have happened to Race, Hadji and Jessie. If they'd hurt them in any way...

As if the goon was reading his mind, he sneered. "Oh don't worry about your precious friends and bodyguard. I had to have a way to have Mr. Maximoff's message sent now didn't I? Now stay put, I need to be in place when your father calls in for instructions."

Jonny breathed an audible sigh of relief as the man disappeared back through the square of light, and it too soon disappeared with more metallic noises. It left him in the dark once more, but Jonny was pretty sure that meant he wasn't being watched either.

He painfully edged himself into a full sitting position and set to work.

--


	3. Chapter 3

**_Quest for Revenge_**  
Chapter three  
by TimeGuardian

_Less than four hours until Peter Maximoff's deadline-_

Race helped Dr. Benton Quest secure a line to the seaplane and then helped his friend on board. The process was done in near silence and it wasn't helping Race's state of mind any. He knew that he had told Hadji to fill Benton in on the situation, but wasn't sure how much of the story Hadji had managed to tell.

Judging by the stone cold stare on Dr. Quest's face, Race guessed that his friend was in some sort of shock - or worse.

Race followed him into the main bridge area of Questor and remained standing while he noticed that Benton chose a seat on a nearby padded bench.

The silence was too much to take. Race cleared his throat and finally spoke up. "Benton, how much did Hadji tell you?"

That was when he finally saw the first hints of worry in Benton's eyes before his friend finally replied with a wavering voice. "He told me enough - now I need to hear the rest."

Race launched into a detailed explanation - telling him of the intruder alert all the way up to the point where he had regained consciousness on the deck. When he was done, Race noticed that Benton was deep in thought. That was when he decided to plunge in further. "Of course, we'll need a plan-"

Benton cut him off neatly. "Plan? Race, the first thing I am doing is getting on the radio and setting up a meet."

Race was taken aback. "C'mon Benton, we're not going to give that nutjob what he wants, are we?"

"OF COURSE NOT!"

The reply was thunderous, filling the small space and nearly making Race wince.

After a beat Benton continued, his voice more subdued. "Don't think for a minute that I'm not tempted to go offer the world to that scum to get Jonny back. I know what's at stake here. Peter nearly sold out our country and endangered the lives of many - if he had his hands on Project Rachel, it would be disastrous. Time travel in his hands would mean he could shape his own twisted future. Unfortunately, the bastard has set a very tight deadline for us and we need to turn this back in our favor."

Race relaxed. This was more like the Dr. Quest he knew. "So what do you suggest?" He finally asked.

"Well, if your intel from Phil is right, Peter somehow either had knowledge of or orchestrated this entire plan," Benton explained. "We need to know what he knows. Maybe if you and Phil were to go after him, maybe he might let something slip, something we can use."

Race nodded appreciatively. "It's a start. What about you?"

"I think my talents are best served here. After I make contact with them and with Jessie and Hadji's help, I think we can trace what happened here and hopefully track down where they took Jonny. With a six hour deadline, I have a feeling that Peter's men didn't take him too far away. It wouldn't make sense otherwise."

"It sounds like that I am off to Michigan then," Race stated as he began to walk towards the seaplane before he stopped. "Benton, what if all of this does come down to a meet?"

"Hopefully it won't. After our last encounter with time traveling, I moved Project Rachel off of Quest World and into offline storage. It's hidden at home and I have no plans on giving it to him," Benton explained simply as he motioned towards the moored seaplane. "Get going. We don't have much time."

--

As far as Jonny Quest knew, time could have been passing at an alarming rate and he would have no clue. The watch he had been wearing while he was aboard Questor was gone, apparently taken by his captors. A quick check of jeans pockets revealed what felt like pocket lint and some loose change from where he had bought an ice cream cone before going to the marina. There was nothing there that would allow him to plot a great escape.

At the least, his captors didn't seem to be too concerned. They didn't tie him up in any way - either they were stupid or they were sure that he wasn't going to get out of there – wherever 'there' was.

He slowly worked himself up from his sitting position and after a few false starts, Jonny finally got to his feet. He started his blind search by taking slow, tentative steps and beginning to work his way around the space.

Being in the dark posed a few challenges, but after figuring out that there were no pits to fall into, he expanded his search, eventually finding the walls of his prison. They felt like they were made of a cool hard metal, and that disheartened Jonny, especially when he made it to the wall that he remembered had the door. No matter how thoroughly he ran his hands up and down the wall, Jonny couldn't find a door seam whatsoever. Everything seemed to be airtight.

_This makes no sense - the air isn't stale. It has to be coming from somewhere._

Jonny tried to look up to see what he could see, but it was simply too dark.

With a sigh, he sat back down on the ground and ponder his options, which amounted to zero. Unless some situation developed, he would simply have to wait for rescue.

He smirked. _I'll probably never hear the end of it from Jess, allowing myself to get kidnapped like this._

Suddenly he heard a metallic scraping noise, and he tensed. If that goon was back at the door maybe he could-

However, something about this noise was off. To Jonny, it didn't sound like it was coming from the far wall like before - it sounded like it was coming from the ceiling. _What the?_

Suddenly he heard an additional noise. Jonny unsteadily got back to feet and looked up - and that was when he was hit with a deluge of water.

--

_I am wondering if I should hide after this cliffhanger. Maybe I should. ;) ~flees~ _

_More to come soon._


	4. Chapter 4

Quest for Revenge  
Chapter four  
by TimeGuardian

_Three hours until Peter Maximoff's deadline-_

After Race took off in the seaplane, Dr. Benton Quest sought out and found the emergency computer interface he had built into the main sleeping quarters of the Questor. He had the main computers scanning the surrounding area and all communications channels, so he didn't want to take away from their efforts.

Benton also wanted a few moments alone with his thoughts.

Before he even agreed to be under the banner and protection of Intelligence One, Benton had made sure that protection for Jonny was the first thing that they implemented. It helped to take a load off of his mind and allowed him to focus on the scientific research that he had wanted to do. I-One in turn had sent him Race Bannon.

For the last few years, the arrangement worked without a hitch. Benton was able to complete a lot of his work and make some notable discoveries along the way. Their family grew bigger when he had adopted Hadji, but both kids remained safe.

_Until now-_

Benton banished the recriminating thought from his mind. There was no way that either he or Race could have predicted this. Even Race's former boss Phil Corbin had not reported anything out of the ordinary with Peter. Hell, once Peter was put in prison Benton didn't even give it any further thought, thinking that the threat was over.

That essentially left them nothing to go on and that was frustrating him to no end.

Sitting down on the main bed in the room, Benton touched a hidden switch on the nearby cabin wall. A panel slid back, revealing the touch screen computer interface he had been looking for.

Taking a cleansing breath, he began his search by typing in what he needed to bring up the security footage.

--

After getting soaked in the initial deluge of water, Jonny Quest staggered back and quickly felt around until he felt the solid comfort of a wall behind him.

This sensory deprivation stuff was getting old fast. Jonny had remembered his science teacher mention in passing that if one of your senses was taken away, the others would pick up the slack. At this moment all he knew was that he was in the dark shivering in his drenched clothes and the sounds of the rushing water were not going away.

_Which means I'm in an overgrown fish tank._

The level of water seemed to be covering his feet. If Jonny had been in a better and coherent mood, he could have probably guessed when the chamber would completely fill with water. As it was, he was having trouble even remembering what day it was. _I'm in trouble._

There was no way out. The little spark of fear that Jonny was trying to suppress was screaming at him that he was going to die. He would never see dad again and Peter Maximoff would win.

_Stop it! _

He had to get a hold of himself. If dad was in this mess, he wouldn't panic. He'd focus and do everything possible to get out of here.

Jonny went back over what he remembered of his inspection of the walls of his prison - they were smooth, even the wall with the door. No way out there. He then looked back up at the ceiling. The water was continuing its relentless descent into the room based on the noise, but Jonny still couldn't see much of anything in the darkness.

_The water has to come from somewhere._

Thoughts whirled through his mind a mile a minute. Even if he could get up to the ceiling, there was no guarantee that there would be a means of escape up there.

Jonny leaned harder against the wall he had found and sighed. It was a better option than doing nothing. The problem was now to get to the ceiling. Since he couldn't reach it on his own, that meant that he would have to be able to float up there and that meant waiting for the space to fill up with water.

_I hate waiting._

--

Hadji helped Jessie check over the boat to make sure it was seaworthy, and then turned to try and find Dr. Quest. He knew that his father was hit hard by the kidnapping and who had done it. Hadji was still trying to make sense of it all too.

When the men had stormed the boat, there had been little warning. Hadji had felt confident in his abilities to hold off the attackers until the gas started surrounding them. Jessie ended up collapsing to the deck first. He tried everything he could think of to evade the attackers, including trying to jump ship. In the end, the y snagged him easily and forced him to breathe deeply. There wasn't a chance, and soon he even sank to the deck nearly unconscious.

Hadji did go back over the last few moments that he did remember and something stuck out in his mind: he remembered seeing a boat.

It perplexed him because of its size. To be able to sneak up on them, he reasoned that the boat would be small, but this seemed to be nearly as large as the Questor.

He continued to mull over the possibilities when he headed down into the quarters area and noticed the door to the main sleeping quarters was open. Hadji ducked his head in and noticed Dr. Quest sitting on one of the beds. He then decided to tell him what he remembered.

"Dr. Quest, I remembered seeing something-"

Hadji stopped short when he saw Dr. Quest turn around. From his vantage point, Hadji could see that Dr. Quest had brought up security footage from the time of the attack on a computer screen built into the wall.

On the screen was a wide shot view of the water from the stern of the boat. In the view was a slightly obscured view of a boat and with a start Hadji realized that it was the same boat he had seen. "You have a picture of the boat, Dr. Quest. That was what I had remembered. Maybe this will lead us to Jonny."

Dr. Quest was looking haggard, but Hadji could see the hope in his face as he replied. "Hopefully it will, Hadji. Right now this is the only lead we have."

--

_Next chapter? A great big interrogation of Peter Maximoff headed up by Phil and Race. See you then. :)_


	5. Chapter 5

Quest for Revenge  
Chapter Five  
by Time Guardian

_Less than two hours until Peter Maximoff's deadline-_

Inside a room marked 'Interrogation', Race Bannon paced back and forth. He was still wearing the short sleeved red shirt he had picked out for the day since he knew he would be out in the sun. The sweat on his face and arms had barely dried from his mad rush from the airport to the prison. Between the seaplane and the jet he took, he counted himself lucky that he made the journey in the course of an hour.

It also helped that both he and Dr. Quest had maintained a certain level of government clearance. Normally it wasn't needed for the day to day work, but when a life was on the line...

Phil Corbin, Race's old Intelligence-One boss met him at the prison. It took multiple flashes of Phil's credentials at the right people, but soon they were escorted to a room the prison called an interrogation room. To Race it looked more like a maximum security visitor's area.

With doors on either side, the room was neatly cleaved in the middle by a large metal table, and where the metal table ended, a clear shield spanned from it to the ceiling. There were chairs on either side of the room, with the ones on the visitor side apparently cushioned more for their comfort. No chance of an inmate attacking them with this setup, but that didn't lessen Race's urge to pummel Peter on sight.

It was the nearly ten minutes of waiting that was driving Race mad. More than once he vacated the chair he had been sitting in and that in turn was annoying Phil to no end.

After Race paced past him for the twentieth time, Phil finally growled. "Damnit Race, sit down!"

Race glared at Phil. "We don't have time for this, Phil. Jonny more importantly doesn't have time for this."

Phil let out a sigh of frustration. "By all rights you shouldn't even be here, being a civilian and all. Your current government clearance wouldn't have even gotten you past the front door of this place. Don't lose it now - that's what Maximoff wants."

The words had their intended effect. After a moment of tense silence, Race stopped pacing and he resumed his seat by Phil.

Seconds later they heard a noise.

On the other side of the barrier the door opened and three people walked through. Two of them were easily identifiable as guards by their uniforms and weapons.

Race easily recognized the man that the guards were escorting.

Peter Maximoff was noticeably thinner and the beginnings of a light grey beard contrasted against his dark grey hair. His feet and hands were chained, barely allowing him to shuffle into the room.

While one guard guided Peter into the only chair in the room, the other came closer to the table and spoke. "Agent Corbin, the warden understands the urgency of this situation. That is why you are being allowed a half hour with Mr. Maximoff. My partner will man the outside door while I stay in here. You are allowed to ask whatever questions you may have."

--

Peter stayed quiet as the guards took up their positions as they had described. So much trouble for one little interview, and yet it was an interview that he had been looking forward to.

He recognized both men easily from when his island getaway was raided. Both of them remained silent, and Peter decided that it was finally time to get the ball rolling. "Agent Corbin, Mr. Bannon, what a surprise. Michigan is not exactly convenient to Maine."

If he had hit a nerve, neither man was showing it.

Peter watched in bemused interest as Phil Corbin got to his feet and spoke. "I think you know why we are here, Peter. You had Jonathon Quest kidnapped and held for ransom."

Ah, so they were going for quick and to the point? How much to reveal, how much... "I have no idea of what you are talking about, gentlemen. If young Jonathon has gotten himself into trouble, I don't see-"

What he was waiting on happened in a mere flash. Race Bannon sprang to his feet in barely concealed fury. "You know what you have done, you bastard. The ransom note was signed with your name!"

Ah yes, the one show of vanity he insisted on. Peter smiled at the thought and the outside communication he had received from his contact earlier. There was no need to hide it anymore. "Oh good, and I thought that would be the one thing that you would miss, former secret agent man. So where is the time travel technology? Don't tell me that Benton sent you here empty handed."

"Tell us where Jonny is and we'll consider your offer," Phil countered coldly.

Peter laughed. "Ah, the idle rhetoric of an I-One agent. In true negotiator style, you're here to find out what I know and extort a location from me. Toss in a little good cop-bad cop and you have the plot to almost every B movie I have seen since I have been here."

He half-expected Race Bannon to further explode at his comments. However, Peter was disappointed when the man in question got up and made a move to leave the room. "Where are you going, Mr. Bannon? Did I hurt what passes for your pride these days?"

Race turned and replied with a cold smile. "We're done here, Maximoff. You know nothing of what's going on outside these walls. When I first came here, I was afraid that you had a vast covert communication system, that you were managing your operation from behind bars. I know now that I can tell Benton that we are only dealing with your third rate flunkies and finding Jonny should be a snap."

Peter knew exactly what Race was trying to do and yet he couldn't quite keep the irritation out of his voice. "I am ALWAYS in control, Mr. Bannon. I would expect you never to forget that. Right now young Jonny Quest is in a metal chamber that is filling with ocean water. At the end of the time period I have specified, the chamber will completely fill and Jonny will drown unless my associates receive the time travel technology I had heard so much about. It's as simple as that."

--

Race Bannon stood rooted in place, forcing him to keep what was left of his emotions in check. In all of his years as an Intelligence One agent, he had been taught never to get emotionally invested in a case.

He knew the vanity would be an easy target but after Peter's outburst, Race was disheartened to see the prisoner motion to the guard who started to get him up. "We are not done here, Maximoff."

The guard answered instead. "I'm sorry, Mr. Bannon. I was instructed to either finish this whenever thirty minutes was up or when the prisoner was done. Mr. Maximoff has signaled that he is done, so we are done."

Race let out the breath that he had been holding as the man that he had wanted to pummel was escorted out quickly through the door on the other side of the partition.

He then felt a hand on his arm. "Race, you did well at the end. We have a few clues to start off with."

Phil's reassurance got Race to thinking over the last of the conversation. ~_A chamber with ocean water - this time limit..._~ "Phil, whoever took Jonny couldn't have gone far if Maximoff is telling the truth."

"I agree, Race. Let me call back to headquarters and have our guys triangulate the Maine coast and see if we can pick up on something that fits the description that Peter gave us."

----------

_Sorry for the delay – real life likes to remind me of what it thinks is important, which is also time consuming. More coming soon._


	6. Chapter 6

_**Quest for Revenge  
Chapter 6  
by Time Guardian**_

_Less than two hours to Peter Maximoff's deadline-_

The water in Jonny's prison was up to his chest now.

Jonny had ditched the sneakers long ago after they became too water-logged. The rest of his wet clothes were plastered against his skin and he found himself floating more often than being able to stand on the ground, so he chose not to fight it. He knew that he needed to conserve his strength any way he could.

Swimming was no problem. For part of his life when they were living in Palm Key, swimming was Jonny's favorite activity only next to the Judo lessons he managed to con out of Race. However, the waters in Florida were significantly warmer than the water he was in right now. He shook away thoughts of hypothermia as he tried once again to reach the ceiling and the source of the water streaming into the confined space.

As it was the last few times he tried, Jonny's fingertips still only managed to grasp at empty air. The only option left to him was to wait longer. He adjusted his body until he was floating on his back, ignoring the slight shiver than ran through his body. This water didn't feel like it was freezing cold but Jonny couldn't deny that he was losing body heat to the water around him.

_Dad, where are you?_

---

The Questor had been moving at a brisk speed now for close to an hour now, but Jessie Bannon was feeling like they were going nowhere fast. Dressed in a green blouse and blue jeans, she stood on deck near the stern of the Questor and looked out of her binoculars for what had to have been the hundreth time in as many hours. Hadji had disappeared an hour ago to find Dr. Quest, and her thoughts were not keeping her in good company.

The attack had come swiftly - too quick for her to do little more than try and keep away the diver that was attacking her. The next thing she was aware of was her dad waking her up and Jonny being gone.

Aross the open water, Jessie saw next to nothing. Much of the coastline was quiet, surrounded mostly by beaches and marinas. There was the occasional sailboat taking advantage of the beautiful afeternoon weather, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Putting herself in the kidnapper's shoes, she guessed that they would want to be able to move fast and keep to the area if possible. The time limit didn't make sense any other way. As crazy as Peter Maximoff was, he did seem to play by a certain set of rules.

She shook her head sadly as she remembered when they had stormed Maximoff's man-made island to rescue Dr. Quest. Peter Maximoff seemed to have it all then - the men, the power, everything he needed to overthrow the government. He was even able to manipulate Dr. Quest into coming there. In the end he didn't care who he had to hurt.

Jessie was lost in her thoughts until she heard somebody coming up behind her. Slowly pocketing her binoculars, she then turned quickly, ready to attack.

---

Hadji Singh had stepped out on deck. He wanted a breath of fresh air, and he wanted to update Jessie on Dr. Quest's efforts.

When he had walked over to where she was standing, Jessie quickly swung around with a karate chop that he easily countered with raised arm. Hadji quickly noticed the fear flashing through her eyes and he forced himself to calm his breathing and spoke in a low and even tone. "Jessie, it is all right. I am not going to hurt you."

He stood unmoving, waiting for her to make the next move. He really couldn't blame Jessie, the attack on the boat had totally unnerved him as well. Being aware of his surroundings and nature was something that he prided himself on. When he was younger and living on the streets in India, it had saved his life more than once.

As to Peter Maximoff, he didn't get to see much of the man first hand, but he remembered the trip that he had made to the future with Jonny to get more information on the potential threat to their family. When they had arrived and Hadji had witnessed the decimated ruins of the same place that he had come from, he knew that whoever would be willing to cause that much destruction was a truly evil individual.

After a few moments Jessie dropped her arm and gave him a wry smile. "Sorry, Hadji. Guess I am still a little edgy after what happened today."

He returned the smile and rubbed his arm gingerly as he stepped closer to look out at the surrounding water. "I cannot fault you for that, though I will remember to announce my presence a little louder from now on. Have you spotted anything out of the ordinary out here?"

"No, nothing out of the ordinary at all," she replied, "what about Dr. Quest, did he find anything on the security footage?"

Hadji let out the breath he had been holding. "The security cameras managed to get footage of the boat that our attackers used to get on board. I was helping Dr. Quest clean up the pictures until a call came through from Race. That was when he wanted me out of the room, because Dr. Quest told me to come out here and check on you."

"Dad called?" Jessie asked. "He didn't even tell us where he was going. It's not like either of them to keep us in the dark."

Hadji said nothing, but continued to look out over the water. He thought of Jonny, and was sure that wherever his brother was, he would make sure that trouble would follow. After being together for so many adventures though, it bothered Hadji not to know where he was.

It was then that he heard Jessie's voice waver. "Hadji - what if - we don't find him in time?"

The question surprised him. "Jessie, I have never known you to give up on anything. As far as Jonny is concerned, I know he is holding his own and is probably trying numerous escape plans as we speak. In the meanwhile, all we can do is our best to find out where he is being held and get there as soon as we can to offer our aid."

Jessie then faced him, the earlier fear in her eyes now replaced with hope. "You're right, Hadji. All we can do now is find him."


	7. Chapter 7

Quest for Revenge  
Chapter 7  
by Time Guardian

_One and a half hours left until Peter Maximoff's deadline -_

Dr. Quest cut the feed on the communicator in the main sleep quarters and sat down hard on one of the beds.

He had just finished talking to Race and wasn't sure what to make of the information his friend had given him. The fact that Peter hadn't denied being involved in this madness didn't surprise him, though the conditions that Peter admitted that Jonny was in set him on edge. Peter knew that he had leverage over him, and now he was sitting back in prison, counting on his cronies to continue his work.

In the end, Race had proposed a plan to him. It was last minute and downright dangerous, but as Race so carefully pointed out, they were out of time and options. After cleaning up the footage that he had of the boat that had been used in the assault on the Questor, Dr. Quest found that there was nothing distinct about it. There wasn't even anything left by the attackers that he could trace.

Race had the help of Phil Corbin and Intelligence One behind him.

Dr Quest sent up a silent prayer before finally getting to his feet and heading for the radio to start his part of the plan.

_I hope this plan works. _

--

Jessie continued to scan the coastline with her binoculars as Hadji went around the Questor, checking the course and heading.

Moments later she heard an additional presence on deck. This time Jessie had the presence of mind to turn around and this time it was Dr. Quest that had appeared on deck. Dressed in black pants and a light blue shirt, she realized belatedly that he had prepared to relax with them for the afternoon as she and Jonny were finishing their work on their biology project.

Hadji's earlier words were leaving her curious though, so she put away her binoculars and headed towards him. "Dr. Quest."

When he turned around, she noticed how tense he was, but at the same time, there was also a set determination about him. Jessie chose her words carefully. "Did you talk to my dad? Are there any leads to Jonny?"

Dr. Quest sighed heavily as he ran a hand over the back of his neck. "Race has Intelligence One scanning through their records and through satellite imagery of the coast."

The reply was positive, but very terse, which was not like him at all. Jessie probed. "What are we going to do in the meanwhile?"

He turned distractedly, looking around the deck. "In the meanwhile we will be scanning as well, but we will also rendezvous with Peter's contact. I have contacted him on the radio and I have the coordinates. Have you seen Hadji?"

"Hadji was heading toward the front last I saw him," Jessie replied easily, though his earlier statement was sending urgent warning bells through her head. "Dr. Quest, you can't be serious about meeting with Maximoff's men. You know it is a trap."

Dr. Quest turned around sharply and retorted. "I don't have time for twenty questions from you, Jessie. We are going into an extremely dangerous situation in the next few minutes and I need both of you to be ready. Your father and I have a plan, and we need to all work together to make it work."

Jessie stepped back abruptly, his gruff tone something totally unexpected.

--

Dr. Quest cringed when he saw Jessie shrink back. He needed to say something. "Jessie- I am sorry. I am tired, distracted and worried. I shouldn't have taken that out on you. It's true that your father has come up with a plan. As far as plans go it is a difficult and dangerous one, and I will need both you and Hadji to help me. Despite all that, I trust him one hundred and ten percent. I wouldn't have hired him to be my head of security otherwise."

He was relieved to see Jessie relaxing her wary stance. "Its okay, Dr. Quest. Let me go find Hadji and then we can go over the plan."

--

Jonny couldn't feel the ground anymore. He was torn between fear and relief because that meant he was closer to his goal, but that also meant that he still had nothing to hold onto.

Time meant almost nothing in the near darkness, the only indication of progress being the steady flow of water being pumped by his captors into the small space. For a while to pass the time, he floated on his back and ran through the last three spy movies he had watched and how many gadgets were laughable at best. In many instances, his dad had either consulted on or invented better alternatives to everything he had seen onscreen. _Heh, take that, Q._

Jonny then felt his eyes close on their own accord and that was enough to startle him out of his position. He righted himself in the water and attempted to shake the cobwebs from his mind. _So tired, but I can't fall asleep now._

Looking upward, he once again raised an arm, hoping to feel out where the source of the water was coming from. Unlike his other attempts, this time his fingertips touched metal.

_Yes!_

He trailed his outstretched hand along the surface he felt until he had his hand halfway under the flow of water. Hope turned into disappointment as Jonny felt the outline of what could only be a grate covering the opening where the water was coming from. From what he could feel and judging by the size and shape of it, nothing bigger than an insect could pass through.

With some effort, Jonny brought his other hand up and with a momentous effort, reached up to grab the grate with hopes of wrenching it free. The water drenched him with no remorse and seconds later he lost his grip and fell back into the surrounding water.

He came up for air, choking back a scream of frustration. Jonny was tired, his body felt like lead, and there was no getting around it - he was in deep trouble.


	8. Chapter 8

Quest for Revenge  
Chapter 8  
By Time Guardian

_One hour left until Peter Maximoff's deadline-_

When Dr. Quest was within a few miles of the coordinates for the meet, he slowed the speed of Questor. From his vantage point he saw mostly open water, and the coast seemed miles away. No distinct landmarks, no nothing.

The plan that Race had suggested to him had been simple enough - mock up something to make them think that he was giving the requested research over willingly, implant a GPS chip in with the mix and follow the bad guys back to Jonny. It sounded simple in theory - so simple in fact, Dr. Quest had already thought of hundreds of things that could go wrong with the plan. Still, it was the best hope they had and he did as instructed, crafting a package that held a cleverly concealed GPS chip. With the package sitting right by the helm, all he had to do was wait on whoever was coming to meet him.

After waiting for a few minutes, Dr. Quest spotted a boat closing in on their location and realized with a start that it was the same one that had been used on the earlier assault on the Questor. He thought back to what Race and the kids must have went through when they were ambushed and it made him wary. He couldn't even see how many people were on the boat, let alone if they were watching his approach.

"Dr. Quest, that boat is the one that attacked us. Can you see anyone on board?"

Hadji's voice was quick through the communicator in Dr. Quest's ear. He had to school himself not to react too much as he quietly replied. "No Hadji, and that is what is making me nervous. You two stay hidden. I hope we do not need the element of surprise, but I will give the signal if needed."

Jessie's voice came through this time. "Be careful, Dr. Quest."

Smiling slightly, Dr. Quest did his best to reassure her. "I will, Jessie."

He turned his attention back to the boat he had spotted. By this point it had closed in within a few feet of their location and rounded around until they drifted closely alongside. A burly red headed man stood on the deck of the other boat, dressed in black pants and a dark blue shirt. His arms were crossed and he had a smile on his face that made Dr. Quest very nervous.

The man spoke quickly. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Dr. Quest. Do you have the merchandise that Mr. Maximoff has asked for?"

Dr. Quest eyed him warily before grabbing for the package he had prepared earlier. He held it up high to make sure that the man saw it. "I brought it - now where is my son?"

The man smiled for a moment before motioning behind him.

Dr. Quest was puzzled at the motion - besides the red haired man, there didn't seem to be anyone else on the other ship.

The answer came seconds later when he heard a hiss and a metal popping noise. Looking around, Dr. Quest saw that a metal hook attached to a cable had landed only a few feet away from him. There was a clear plastic bag attached to the hook.

"Put the package into the bag, Dr. Quest," The red haired man ordered.

Dr. Quest did as instructed, leaning down slowly and slipping the package into the clear bag. There was a zipper at the top of the bag, and he quickly slid it closed. Getting to his feet, he kept one eye on the man.

Once again, the man on the boat motioned behind him. This time, Dr. Quest spotted other signs of life as a second man emerged seemingly from below decks to join the other man. This second man was dressed like his counterpart, except that he was much shorter than the first and his hair was a dark shade of brown.

The smaller man held what looked like a small controller in his hands, which he quickly operated. The groan of a winch soon resonated in the air and Dr. Quest watched as the bag that was on the hook was slowly dragged off of Questor's deck and into the air.

A minute later, the larger man kneeled down, pulling at the cable hand over hand until he came up with the bag. He quickly detached the bag and tossed it to the smaller man. "Stow that below and get ready to shove off."

To Dr. Quest, this seemed way too easy. "You have what you want, now what about my son?"

In reply, the smaller man sneered and rattled off a series of coordinates. "He's at that location, but I suggest you hurry. Jonny will lose whatever air is left within the next forty five minutes."

It was too good to be true after all. Dr. Quest stepped forward, anger surging through him. "But there's an hour left on Peter's deadline!"

The larger red haired man quickly stepped forward with a pistol pointed straight at him. "Now, now, it seems that the good doctor does not want to save his son. He wants to pick a fight that he cannot win." He turned to the smaller man. "What do you think we should do with him?"

The smaller man snickered. "We have what we came for. Since he's come alone, why don't we get rid of him?"

Dr. Quest shook his head. The two men had acted exactly like Race had predicted. "Do you two honestly think I came alone? Now, Hadji!"

A shot resonated from above him and struck the deck of the other ship within inches of the two men, making them both jump back in some surprise.

Dr. Quest smiled grimly. "I have two people hidden on board my boat with their guns pointed directly at you two. Leave now or the next shots will be at your heads."

The two men on the other boat stood their ground for a minute before turning and quickly heading below deck.

Dr. Quest soon heard the engine on the other boat hum to life and speed off quickly. He let out the breath that he had been holding and called out. "Hadji, Jessie, its all clear and is to plan. Let's get the scanners online."

Hadji and Jessie quickly joined Dr. Quest on deck as he removed the communicator from his ear and moved to the scanners and began making the crucial adjustments. "Okay, calibrating for the GPS tracker frequency...there we are."

A solid green light appeared on the scanner monitor that was moving quickly away from their position.

"What are we waiting for? Let's follow them! They will take us to Jonny!" Jessie declared.

That was the plan, but something in what the men had said gnawed at Dr. Quest's instincts. _They have what they came for - they have no reason to go back to where they stashed Jonny_. "The GPS tracker I used has a range of three hundred miles. Let me radio Race first."

He moved quickly to the radio and soon he had his friend on the line. "Race, I have some coordinates I am going to give you. I need you to tell me what's there."

Dr. Quest rattled off the coordinates and waited. A moment later Race came back on the line. "That's about twenty minutes from your position, Benton. According to I-One's computer database it is owned by a research firm that stores sea water for experiments."

This bit of information gave him hope. "Race, this fits based on what Peter told you. I'm sure that Jonny is there."

Race's tone was incredulous. "You didn't follow Maximoff's men like we planned? You're taking a big risk, Benton. They could have been lying to you or Peter could have been lying again."

Benton shook his head as he tried to make Race understand his reasoning. "You said it yourself that they wouldn't have had time to take Jonny far, and given what Peter has told you, I am sure that this is it. Companies that store seawater are going to need large metal tanks to keep them in. Given the route we have traveled to get here there's nothing else around for miles."

Seconds passed in silence before he heard Race sigh. "Okay, we'll go with your instincts, Benton, but feed us the information on the GPS signal and Phil and I will follow that lead. Are you going to need backup?"

Dr. Quest shook his head. "Thank you, Race. We'll call for local help if we need it."

A voice he recognized as Phil Corbin then came over the line. "I know some of the FBI guys in the area, Dr. Quest. I'll have some of them meet you there along with an ambulance."

"Thank you, Phil. Quest out."

Dr. Quest turned from the radio to find both kids staring at him intently.

"Dr. Quest - those metal tanks you mentioned," Jessie asked, "Will our scanners be able to pick up Jonny if he is in one of them?"

It was a question he was thinking about as well. "All we can hope for is the scanners are up to the job. Let's get moving- we don't have much time."


	9. Chapter 9

_**Quest for Revenge**_  
Chapter 9  
By Time Guardian

The metal tank that Jonny Quest was in was nearly full but that didn't matter much to him. His body and his mind were tired. It would have been easy enough to simply stop and let himself sink to the bottom.

He was sure that help wasn't coming, otherwise he would have been rescued by now.

Jonny's frustration mounted as another shiver coursed through him. _So cold. Dad, please, where are you?_

* * *

_Less than an hour left on Peter Maximoff's deadline-_

With the current and wind speeds in their favor, the Questor reached the research site in less than twenty minutes.

The complex that they encountered was seemingly small. There were two large warehouse type buildings at the center of the complex and radiating outwards from the center was a network of metal pipes, all of them feeding outward to metal tanks that stood near the perimeter of the complex in neat multiple rows.

Dr. Quest found a small service dock near the complex and managed to pull alongside.

Hadji looked over their goal as he helped Jessie tie Questor to the dock. "I assume that one of those metal buildings is what we are looking for."

"Right you are Hadji," Dr. Quest replied as he took one last look at the scanner readings. "Based on these readings, I can narrow down Jonny's location to one of the tanks on the outermost row. We need to get closer to be sure though. Hadji, I want you to go in ahead of us. See if you can find any engineers on site and tell them what's going on. If Peter was telling the truth, we need to get the water shut off now before Jonny runs out of air." He then turned and handed Hadji a small headset. "Take this communicator with you and keep in contact."

Hadji nodded quickly, putting on his communicator while he rushed for the dock.

Jessie turned to Dr. Quest. "What can I do to help, Dr. Quest?"

In response, he tossed her a portable handheld scanner and a headset. "You are going to help me scan those containers. Let's hurry."

From what Jonny could feel, his face was mere inches from the ceiling of his prison now. What little hope he had was ebbing fast.

Suddenly, the rush of water that had been his constant tormentor ceased, leaving only the sounds of the shifting water around him.

In the near silence, Jonny chuckled weakly. _Better late than never, dad_.

* * *

Once they had reached the rows of tanks, Dr. Quest had Jessie start on one end while he started on the other.

His headset soon chirped with Hadji's voice. "Dr. Quest, I found the manager of the complex. Ay my request, he shut down all of the water flow - he said that he had at least five different tanks filling so there was no way to narrow it down."

Dr. Quest shook his head - he figured that it wouldn't be that simple. "Don't worry about it Hadji, I think we have narrowed it down. See if the manager can drain the outermost row of tanks and then meet us there."

Hadji quickly replied, "Right away."

Dr. Quest then turned back to the task at hand. The row that they were on had six tanks, each similar in size and shape. Each had a main entry door into the tank that was sealed with a pressure lock, which meant even if they found the right tank, they would have to wait until the tank was near empty before they could open it up.

He heard the sounds of water draining as he ran his scanner around the first two tanks. The readings for each came back negative.

Suddenly, Jessie's excited shout broke into his concentration. "Come quick, Dr. Quest! I found a signal!"

He ran quickly, passing all of the other tanks until he spotted Jessie near the last tank in the row. Upon reaching her, Jessie handed him the scanner she was using. "Check the readings, Dr. Quest. It looks like he is still floating near the top of the tank."

Dr. Quest checked her readings. Jonny was indeed floating near the top of the tank but the way the readings were flickering in and out meant only one thing. "His life signs are extremely weak. We don't have time to wait for all the water to be pumped out so stand back."

As Jessie stepped back, Dr. Quest reached into his pocket and brought out a small laser pistol. He had unearthed it from his workshop onboard Questor, and hoped that it might come in handy.

After adjusting the intensity dial on the handle of the pistol, Dr. Quest pointed it at the base of the tank and fired.

A beam of brilliant crimson light shot forth and struck the spot he had intended. The metal buckled and sizzled under the laser's influence until a large stream of water shot forth, soaking the ground instantly.

* * *

Jonny felt the water level around him lowering and he was grateful. Between the water temperature and the length of time, he had been tempted more than once to let everything go and sink to the bottom.

Time was passing by in a blur now - it only seemed like minutes before he felt himself touching the bottom of the tank. Much to his disgust, Jonny found that he didn't even have the strength to push himself up so he remained flat on the ground facing up as he heard the door open. Light flooded the small space as Jonny could barely make out the familiar outline of his dad in the doorway.

"Jonny? Jonny!"

His father's voice was music to his ears. Seconds later, large warm hands encompassed one of his own as Jonny saw his dad's face hovering over him.

The look on his father's face spoke volumes and hitch in his voice was unmistakable. "Jonny, you're safe now. We'll get you to the hospital and get you into some warm clothes. You'll be all right - I promise."

That sounded nice. Jonny did what he could to smile in return, but he was so very cold and tired. In the distance, he thought he could make out the sound of sirens approaching their location.

Only then did Jonny truly relax and close his eyes.

* * *

_Hours later-_

When Benton had confirmed that Peter's men had the package with the GPS chip, Race Bannon got Phil to trace the signal.

In the end, they had managed to track the package all the way back to the prison that Peter was in, even arriving just in time to witness one of the guards handing the package to Maximoff. After a few well-placed phone calls by Phil, multiple law enforcement agencies converged on the prison, all ready and more than eager to find out how deep the corruption truly was there at Stansky Maximum Security Correctional Center.

After promising that things were well in hand, Phil had ordered him to go home, which was an order Race was more than happy to obey.

Race arrived back at the Quest Compound in the early morning darkness. After punching in a code on the security panel near the front door, he stepped inside and stretched. Everyone should have been in bed already, so it was just a simple matter of heading to his own bed.

As he closed the front door behind him, Race caught sight of Jessie in the living room.

His daughter was stretched out the largest sofa in the room. Dressed in light blue pajamas, Jessie looked to be sound asleep with her head propped up against a throw pillow. Smiling, Race walked into the living room and slowly sat down on one of the sofa arms.

Race lightly stroked his daughter's red hair and spoke. "_Ponchita_, wake up."

Jessie quickly opened her eyes and looked up at him with a sleepy smile. "Dad, you're home. Did you and Mr. Corbin nail him?"

He nodded. "Followed the information back to the source. Let's just say that Mr. Maximoff will not be communicating to anyone on the outside anytime soon. How's Jonny doing?"

Stretching, Jessie pushed herself up into a sitting position and stifled a yawn. "The hospital we took him to verified that Jonny had no broken bones, only hypothermia and exhaustion. They had wanted to keep him overnight, but Jonny insisted on coming home and was sound asleep in his room the last time I saw him. The hospital said he would be back to normal in a few days with rest."

Race smiled. "I don't blame him. Spending close to six hours in a waterlogged box would make me long for home too. Now I think it's time for a certain young lady to be in bed. It's a school night after all."

Jessie groaned and threw a pillow at him. "After the day we've had? I feel like I could sleep for a week."

Laughing, Race easily caught the pillow and pitched it onto the opposite side of the sofa. "Yeah, I think I could too. Get to bed, Jessie. We'll see what tomorrow brings."

His daughter smiled as she got to her feet and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "Good night, dad."

Race watched Jessie rush off and upstairs towards her room.

Stifling a yawn of his own, Race made a check around the living room and then finally engaged IRIS' security systems before heading off towards his own room and a well deserved rest.

* * *

_This was a few months in coming, and I do apologize. After some real life issues and a nasty bout with bronchitis, I finally was able to finish this story. For now I will be taking a break from Jonny Quest, but I will be back eventually._

_Hope you enjoyed the ride,_

_Time Guardian_


End file.
